11.1.13

Connection - #Reverb12

Connection. Have you connected with new people in 2012, online or offline? Name five people you’ve connected with in 2012. And (bonus!) name five people you would like toconnect with in 2013
Have I connected with new people? Not really - but I have deepened my connection with several people.

Members of my Meeting. It's not just being a Friend now, it's just that for some reason I've grown closer to several of them. We share more of our personal lives, not just our spiritual lives.

Friends. Last week I spent time with my BFF, a woman I met over 40 years ago in third grade. Over the year I've Skyped and Gchatted with others, and not just for professional reasons. Best of all, the people who live near me and I have spent many happy hours together, at breakfasts, lunches and dinners... not to mention over cupcakes and assorted beverages. One friend takes the time to stop by on her many-hour journey from home to her daughter's school, priceless, precious hours.

Family. While there was the loss of my uncle to contend with, it also opened the opportunity to grow closer with his two children and wife - not that I wasn't close with them to begin with, but we are closer now. It was also good seeing some of my nieces and nephews (and greats), even though the times weren't always happy ones.

In 2013 I hope to do the same, to continue to deepen those connections and perhaps to find new ones. Getting a new job, obviously, will increase that opportunity. But if there's one thing that I learned from my uncle and my high school friend, it's that friends and family are the most important thing in our lives - we need to celebrate and cherish them daily.